Fairy Tales Have a Scary Way of Coming True
by DarylDixon'sgirl1985
Summary: Hermione Granger-Weasley finds herself in a real life tale of Rumpelstiltskin. What will she do? Written for Arts and Crafts: Crafting 101 assignment on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


**Hey everyone. This was written for Arts and Crafts: Crafting 101 assignment on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I wrote for Task 4 Yarn which was to write a Rumpelstiltskin! AU. I hope you all enjoy Fairy Tales Have a Scary Way of Coming True. Word Count is 2,193.**

"You had to say you could spin straw into gold," Ron snapped as he watched Hermione try to hold on to their children. The person she'd told this to had come to take her back with them. "You just had to say something of this caliber. Didn't you?"

"Do we have to do this now, Ronald?" she snapped angrily kissing both Hugo and Rose on the top of the heads. Turning to the children Hermione smiled so as not to scare her children. "Now you both be good for Daddy. Okay?"

Hugo nodded not really understanding what was going on. All he knew was that Mummy had to go away for a while because of some reason that his five year old mind couldn't comprehend.

Rosie on the other hand was angry at both her parents for this. Why was Daddy letting this happen to Mummy? "But why is this happening, Mummy?" she asked in a tearful voice. She was seven and a half after and didn't really understand what was going on.

"Mummy made some statements that she shouldn't have but everything is going to be alright," Hermione reassured her daughter. "You are going to be a good girl for your Daddy? Aren't you?"

Rosie nodded numbly as she watched her mother being lead away from them. Not knowing if she'd ever see her mother again or not Rosie vowed vengeance on the man who was taking her Mummy away.

Hermione on the other hand was trying to think of anyway that she could actually turn straw into gold. She thought of the Philospher's Stone but that had been destroyed in Harry, Ron and her first year at Hogwarts. She didn't have on hand any of the alchemical ingredients to turn anything to even fake gold. She sighed as she was walked through a beautiful castle not far from the Hogwarts.

Now this castle was strange indeed because of the fact that she had never in all her years of going to the school noticed it before. It was almost as if the picturesque castle with tall battle placements and gargoyles had just popped itself into existence. Which was ridiculous and not even possible if you asked Hermione. Things just didn't pop out of nowhere.

The man who at first had seemed like a kind gentleman visiting Gorge and Ron's joke shop didn't seem that kindly any more. As he marched her towards the end of a particularly long corridor his dark hair and eyes seemed to almost take on a sinister look. Like he was some kind of horror story murderer and not kindly gentleman at all. Pushing the door open to reveal a dark room full of straw he motioned for Hermione to enter the room.

"What is this?" she asked voice shaking audibly. She studied the room which was rather large in size. The straw was strewn all over the place and in the middle of it all was wooden spinning wheel. The wooden spinning wheel and chair that went with it were the only items of furniture in the room. "Where is the rest of the furniture? Where shall I sleep?"

The man laughed as though Hermione had just told some kind of funny joke. "This is the room you will be staying in until your husband's debt to me is paid, dearie," the man told her. "You won't be needing a bed or any other furniture if you can indeed to do what you say you can." He seemed to be laughing at his own private joke or something because Hermione didn't see anything funny in what he'd just old her. "You can? Do what you claimed you can do that is? Right dearie?"

Hermione gulped not seeing anyway out of this. She nodded entering the room full of straw with a sense of dread filling her chest as she went. There was something about that man that was just a bit off. She couldn't put her finger on it but he seemed a bit more sinister with every word he'd spoken since they arrived at his castle.

"I'll see you tomorrow, dearie," the man said slipping out of the room and closing the door. She could hear him laughing almost merrily as he walked away from the door and she wanted to punch him much the same way she had Draco Malfoy in third year.

Sitting down at the spinning wheel Hermione began to ponder the situation she found herself in again. Maybe she'd have been better off not opening her mouth about that fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. Because she had been telling the children the story when the stranger had overheard her.

"Maybe if I could have stopped Ron from making that stupid bet," she muttered to herself. "He put himself and George into debt because he just had to bet that he was right about Harry's tattoo which he knew doesn't exist." She put her head in her hands in despair. However was she going to get out of this situation?

"Your not going get much work done like that," came a gleeful voice across the room from her. "Now are you, dearie?"

That word alone made Hermione jump practically out of her seat. How had he come back without her hearing him? Looking up towards the direction of the voice that had just spoken. It wasn't her captor that had spoken though. It was a different man but he sounded just like the first one.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked voice shaky. Perhaps this strange man had been sent to spy on her and see if her claims of spinning straw into gold was true. Knowing she was in trouble if that was the fact she backed away man.

"Don't you know by now who I am, dearie?" the pale man's skin sparkled under the light of the stars from the far overhead window. His brushed some of his dark brown hair out of his face as he advanced on her. "Can't you guess who I am?"

"I don't time for guessing games. I have to turn this..."

"This room full of straw into gold before morning. Of course you do." The man smiled in almost a friendly way but like with the other man something seemed really off with him. "I've heard this story before, dearie. Was it your father that got you in this situation? Or some other person?"

"My husband got himself into debt with the owner of this castle. The man must have overheard me telling my children about the story of Rumpelstiltskin and thought that I was saying that I could spin straw into gold." Hermione looked around her in despair yet again. "But I have no way to turn any of this straw into gold. I don't think I could even think of a way that wasn't alchemical in nature."

The man shot off a small giggle like that of an excitable child on a sugar rush. "You don't need alchemy, dearie," he told her. "You're witch. Aren't you?"

Nodding Hermione wondered where this strange man was going with this. "Yes," she told him watching him warily. "What does that have to do with anything? It's not like I can magic my way out of here. Before we got her I was told that this room was magic proof."

The glittering man giggled yet again. "Is that what that old fool told you?" he said with wink of his eye. "How did I get in here than? You would have heard the door open if it did right?"

Hermione nodded.

"Did you? Hear the door open that is?"

"No. I didn't." An idea formed in Hermione's mind perhaps she could think up a spell that could turn this straw to gold.. Raising her wand she was about to say the first of her spell attempts when the man stopped her.

"Your magic doesn't work here, dearie. Mine however is older than even time itself. So it works where other magic doesn't." The man giggled again as he watched her sit back down in dismay. "Don't dismayed, dearie. I'm here to help you. That is if you want my help. Do you want my help?"

Hermione nodded eagerly knowing she had to get this done tonight if she wanted to see her children anytime soon. "Yes," she exclaimed happily. "Any help you can provide will be more than appreciated."

"Not so fast. We haven't discussed my end of the bargin. All magic comes with a price after all." He seemed to smile as though this was some sort of private joke that he had with almost everyone.

"I'll do anything," Hermione told him.

"Anything?"

"Anything. Name your price and I'll pay it."

"Your price is the delivery of a simple message and you have to hand over your first born child."

Hermione wished she had been so rash to say that she would do anything. She couldn't just give up Rosie to this crazed stranger. He seemed like the type of person who would be dangerous to even give a dog to.

"Do we have a deal dearie?" He held out his glittering pale hand for her to shake.

This was starting to sound just like the story she had been telling her children. What had been the ending of that story? The woman in the story had been asked for her first born daughter but had stopped the villain from taking the child by...What? What had she done? Then it hit her she had the way out of this situation and the next one right in front of her.

"We have deal," Hermione said shaking the man's hand.

She watched in awe as the man sat down at the spinning wheel and began to spin the straw into gold. It did seem like he was using some sort of ancient magic or something. She'd never seen anything like this before. The straw seemed to fly into the man's hand and through the spinning wheel.

"Why don't you get some shut eye, dearie?" the man asked with a giggle. "It's going to be long morning."

Hermione rolled her eyes. She really wanted to ask the man what was with all the giggling. But she decided to do what he asked of her and found a place that was already clear of straw and curled up into a ball. Drifting off to sleep she vowed she'd never make the mistake of mentioning fairy tales out loud in public again.

It felt like she had been sleep for hours when she was woken up the next morning. She had only been sleeping for about a few minutes because she didn't really trust the man that had helped her. If he was who she thought he was he was one of the most dangerous people in fairy tale and literary history. She didn't particularly feel like sleeping anywhere near him but she must have because she felt refreshed and renewed.

"Marvelous," the owner of the castle's voice called from the door. "You've just gotten your husband and brother-in-law out of debt with me, dearie. I have admit I had my doubts about your abilities. But you've proven me wrong." Stepping aside he allowed her out to reveal Ron was in the hallway. "You are free to go home with your husband and children."

Running to Ron Hermione threw herself into her husband's arms and kissed him. They left for home eagerly. Hermione couldn't wait to get home and tell Rosie and Hugo about meeting the man who could spin straw into gold. They wouldn't believe her but then she'd have the proof when he came to collect on their deal.

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Later that night when they got home and after the family had eaten their dinner the stranger showed up on the doorstep. He was as strange and glittering as Hermione had known him to be in her cell full of straw. He smiled upon entering the house and seeing the two children at the dinner table.

"Which one of them has the honor of being the older of the two, dearie?" the man asked. "They'll be coming back home with me."

"Well, Rumpelstiltskin," Hermione said seeing the man sag in disappointment, "no one is going with you because I've guessed your name correctly without even needing three guesses. I grew up hearing your story my entire life."

"You've won, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin said with false cheer. "I'll be leaving then. You have good night."

Hermione watched him leave a sense of fear growing in her stomach. That seemed far too easy and if things seem easy they usually aren't. She would be prepared for the next time she encountered Rumpelstiltskin. She'd be ready for him.

 **I hope you all enjoyed Fairy Tales Have a Scary Way of Coming True.**


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